Refrigeration apparatus



y 1945. M. KALISCHER 2,375,851

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Filed Sept. 27, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet l WITNESSES: F\ INVENTOR MIL-row KHLISCHER.

ATTORN y 1945. M. kALlscHER 2,375,851

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS WITNESSES: INVENTOR M. 7 Mm'ou KauscHsR.

BY 6W 5 W ATTORN Y Patented May 15, 1945 REFRIGERATION APPARATUS Milton K'alischer, Longmeadow, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application September 27, 1943, Serial No. 503,910

9 Claims. (Cl. 62-403) My invention relates to a refrigerator and, more particularly, to the type of refrigerator which includes a food compartment, an evaporator disposed in the upper portion of the food compartment for cooling the same, and a motorcompressor unit disposed in a machinery compartment situated below the food compartment.

In refrigerators of this type, water vapor freezes on the evaporator and it becomes necessary periodically to defrost the same. This is done either manually, as by turning a switch to stop operation of the motor compressor for as long as necessary, or automatically, as when such switch is opened and closed by mechanical means responsive to temperature, pressure or other conditions in the evaporator or in the food compartment. In any event it is necessary to dispose of the resultant water. I

It is, therefore, one object of my invention to produce an improved refrigerator of the type set forth.

A further object of my invention is to produce a refrigerator which includes means for automatically disposing of the water resulting from automatic or manual defrosting of the evaporator.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an improved refrigerator structure in which, disposal of said water is utilized to assist in condensing the hot compressed refrigerant, thus increasing the emciency of the refrigerator.

A still further object of my invention is to produce means by which the last-mentioned object is attained by utilizing natural forces and without resort to any special or complicated devices or moving parts.

A still further object of my invention is to produce means for disposing of the water resulting from defrosting of the evaporator which means occupies a minimum of space in the lower or machinery compartment, thus leaving storage space available for storing vegetables, fruits or other articles.

A still further object of my invention is to accomplish the foregoing objects by a structure of extreme simplicity and of minimum expense and weight.

These and other objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in accordance with the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational View of a refrigerator embodying my invention, certain parts being shown in vertical section,

Fig. 2 is a section on line 11-11 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on line IIIIII of Fig. I or Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I show a refrigerator having a food compartment '10 which is cooled by an evaporator 12. The compartment it is usually provided with shelves l4 and has an access opening which is closed by a door [6. Below the compartment I0 and separated therefrom by a heat-insulating partition is a lower compartment IS, which is divided by partitions and 22 to form a front storage bin 24, a rear machinery compartment 26- and a rear compartment 28 for receiving the water disposal apparatus forming the subject of this invention.

. The access opening of the bin 24 is closed by a door 30 hinged at 32. Access to the compartments 26 and 28 may be had by making the partition 20 or one or more of the side walls of the compartment 18 removable.

In the machinery compartment 26 is a motor compressor unit 34, which is operatively connected to a condenser 36 and to the evaporator l2 in the usual way. The refrigerating system operates in a conventional manner which need not be described in detail.

The condenser 36 extends upwardly in a flue 38 which serves as a chimney to produce an upward draft of air for cooling the hot compressed refrigerant gas circulating through the condenser 36. The wall of the flue 38, to which the condenser 35 is secured, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, serves as a radiaor to dissipate heat from the container 36 to the atmosphere.

In order todispose of the Water resulting from manual or automatic defrosting of the evaporator, and in order to utilize the disposal of said water to cool the motor compressor 34 and the condenser 36, I provide a plurality of superimposed, but vertically staggered trays All, 42 and 44, which are suitably secured, as at 45, to the walls of the comparment 28, as best-shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The trays may be formed of sheet metal, wax-impregnated paper or some plastic material. The water resultin from defrosting of the evaporator i2 is collected in a tray 46, and is conducted by a pipe it to the uppermost tray 40. When the tray MP is filled, excess water flows through notches in the front wall thereof into the intermediate tray 42, from which excess water, if any, flows through similar notches 52 in the rear wall of the tray 42 into the lower-most tray 44. ,7

In refrigerators equipped with automatically operated defrosting devices, the evaporator is department 26.

frosted rather frequently and the amount of water resulting from each defrosting is relatively small. However, in order to adapt my invention to refrigerators which are manually defrosted at relatively long intervals, I make the trays 46, 42 and 44 sufficiently large to hold the maximum amount of water which may result from any overdue defrosting operation.

In the rear wall 54 of the compartment 28 I provide an air inlet 56 which is preferably at a point above the uppermost tray 46. I also provide an air outlet 58 leading from the compartment 28, past at least a portion of the bin 24, into the machinery compartment 26. This outlet is preferably formed by spacing the lower edge of the partition and the bottom 60 of the vegetable bin 24 from the bottom 62 ofthe compartment 16, as best shown in Fig. 2:.

Operation As the air around the motor compressor 34 and condenser 36 is heated, it tends to rise through the flue 38. This creates reduced pressure in the compartment 26 and thus causes air to flow in from the compartment 28 through the opening 58. This, in turn, causes room air to fiow into the compartment 28 through the inlet 56. The air entering the compartment 28 flows over the upper tray where, in evaporating some of the water, it loses some of 'its latent heat. The partly cooled air flows downwardly over the trays 42 and 44, evaporates more water, and is further cooled. The cooled air then flows through the passage 58 into contact with the back and bottom of the bin 24 and into the machinery com- The cooled air, by contact with the back and bottom of the bin 24, maintains the latter at a slightly reduced temperature so that it may be adapted for the storage of fruits and vegetables if so desired. The still relatively cool air then flows over the compressor 24 and upwardly over the condenser 36 inthe flue 38' thus effectively cooling the compressor 34 and the hot refrigerant gas in the condenser.

The superimposed and staggered arrangement of the trays 40, 42 and 44 provides relatively narrow passages which accelerate the flow of air therebetween thus increasing. the flow of air. The path of travel of the air is illustrated by the arrows in Fig. 2.

The exposed water surface area in the trays 40, 42 and. 44 and the size and location of the air inlet 56 and the air outlet 58 are such that, under normal operating conditions, enough air is circulated to evaporate the entire amount of water delivered to the trays following each defrosting of the evaporator l2 before it is again necessary to defrost the evaporator.

The capacity of the trays is such as to provide storage space for excess water resulting from abnormally frequent defrosting of the evaporator, or when, due to excessive humidity, the evaporation of water is retarded. The accumulated water is evaporated gradually when the abnormal conditions referred to are eliminated.

The superimposed and staggered relation. of the trays 46, 42 and 44 provides a constantly changing and aerated water surface which prevents stagnation and insures a free and clean water surface area so as to effect efficient and. rapid evaporation of the water. 'Thus, if dust, greasy matter or other foreign objects, such as food particles, should reach the uppermost tray 40 they will be carried by the water into the tray 42' and finally into the lowermost tray 40 so that the water surface area in all but the lowermost tray is unobstructed. Furthermore by this arrangement it will only be necessary to remove and clean the lowermost of the trays.

If it is preferred to increase the moisture absorbing capacity of the air rather than its heat absorbing capacity, the flow of air may be reversed so that it will pass over the motor compressor 34 and the condenser 36 before it is made to flow over the water trays. This can be effected by mere rearrangement of the parts involved without departing from the spirit or scope of this invention.

It will thus be seen that, by this invention,

. the water resulting from defrosting of the evaporator is automatically disposed of and that the air cooled by evaporation of the water is utilized to cool the compressor and to condense the refrigerant gas.

It will also be seen that this is accomplished by the simple and inexpensive expedient of providing the trays 40, 42 and 44 in the bottom of the refrigerator cabinet and conducting the defrosting water to the topmost of said trays from which the water cascades down into the lowermost of said trays. By this means, the objects of this invention are obtained without the use of blowers or other moving parts so that no servicing or maintenance is required.

While I have shown my invention in but on form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are specifically set forth in the appended claims. I

What I claim is:

1. In a refrigerator, a food compartment, an evaporator for cooling the same, a lower compartment, a partition dividing said compartment into a first and second section, refrigerating machinery disposed in said first section and operatively connected to said evaporator, a receptacle positioned in said second section, means for conducting water resulting from defrosting of said evaporator into said receptacle, 2. storage bin also formed in said lower compartment adjacent said first and second sections, and means for causing air to flow first over said receptacle, then in contact with a wall of said bin and then over said machinery.

2. The structure recited in claim 1, in which said last-mentioned means includes an opening in a Wall of said second section at a point above said receptacle, and a passage at a point below said receptacle leading to said first section, said passage being defined at least in part by a wall of said bin.

3. In a refrigerator, a food compartment, an evaporator for cooling the same, a lower compartment, refrigerating machinery disposed in said lower compartment and operatively connected to said evaporator, a plurality of spaced superimposed trays positioned in said lower compartment, means for conducting water resulting from defrosting of said evaporator to said trays, and means for causing air to flow in a downward path successively over said trays to evaporate the water therein and then to. flow from a point adjacent the lowermost of said trays to and over said machinery.

4. In a refrigerator, a food compartment, an evaporator for cooling said compartment, 9. lower compartment, a partition dividing said lower compartment into a first and second section, refrigerating machinery in said first section, a plurality of superimposed and vertically staggered trays in said second section, a bin adjacent said sections, and means for conducting water result ing from defrosting of said evaporator to the uppermost of said trays, said trays being so constructed and arranged that when the uppermost tray is full, water will overflow into the next succeeding lower tray, the bottom of said bin being spaced from the bottom of said lower compartment, whereby a'passage is formed leading from said second section to said first section in a path adjacent the bottom of said bin, there being an opening in a wall of said second section at a point above the uppermost of said trays for admitting room air to said second section.

5. The structure recited in claim 3 in which said trays are so arranged that water will overflow successively from the uppermost to the lowermost of said trays.

6. In a refrigerator, a food compartment, an evaporator for cooling said compartment, a lower compartment, refrigerating machinery disposed in said lower compartment and operatively connected to said evaporator, a plurality of superimposed receptacles also disposed in said lower compartment, means for conducting water resulting from defrosting of said evaporator to the ment, means for conducting water resulting from defrosting of said evaporator to said trays, and means for causing air to flow over said trays and over said condenser, the trays being in series with respect to said air flow.

8. The structure recited in claim 7 in which said trays are so constructed and arranged that water overflows successively from the uppermost to the lowermost of said trays.

9. The structure set forth in claim 7 wherein said condenser extends vertically along the back of the refrigerator and wherein the means for causing air to flow includes a flue or stack extending vertically along said condenser so that the air cools the condenser and the condenser heat imparts a stack eifect upon said air to cause said air flow.

MILTON KALISCHER. 

